Anosmia: Causes, Symptoms, and Natural Treatment Options

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Anosmia Triggered by Injury
Posted by Jamacc (Houston, Texas) on 05/16/2012

Can someone please explain to me about the castor oil in greater detail? How often and how much? I lost my sense of smell 5 years ago and was told it was due to Nasal Polyps, I had them removed and my sense of smell only comes back temporarily with the use of steroids, such as a Medrol Dose Pack. It is way to unhealthy to take steroids continuously and I worry about building up an tolerance so I save the steroid route for once or twice a year when I just cannot stand not being able to smell anymore.

I have had 5 ENT's One told me he had never heard of someone losing their sense of smell only to regain it temporarily with steroids, so he never addressed my complaint. I have never had a single Doctor ever use the word Anosmia, in fact only one out of five attempted to address the issue at all. So I am looking for any ideas, I am in my thirties and the thought of not being able to smell again depresses me. One more thing that happened; I hit my head on an open cabinet door once and was able to smell perfectly for one hour before it faded away, any one else have an odd experience like that as well?

Castor Oil
Posted by Kayla (Beaverton) on 01/03/2023
★★★★★

Regaining Taste and Smell

My naturopathic doctor told me to use castor oil to regain smell.

I did some research and found some instructions. Never warm any oil too hot it will destroy the healing properties. I think lukewarm is the key or don't warm it at all.

  • Gently warm castor oil on the stove or microwave. Make sure it is warm and not hot.
  • Place two drops of oil in each nostril twice a day: once upon waking and right before sleep.

Here is the link

https://www.healthline.com/health/anosmia

Castor Oil
Posted by Janet (Indiana) on 12/26/2015

Dmortii, I would think judging by your success with castor oil that vitamin d3 is needed and it is needed by most Americans. Castor Oil is rich in D and I have had great success with it D3 changing my life. Here is a speech by Dr. Michael Holick. He has an excellent chart on his website that helps you determine dosage. Janet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lRtx-4_FOY


Anosmia Triggered by Antibiotics
Posted by Mourningwarbler (Florida) on 09/13/2015

If you or someone you know has lost the sense of smell, totally or in part, whether from an antibiotic or infection, it is important to protect the nose, the olfactory organs. I mean protect it from strong smells from which you would have backed away previously. Dogs and cats lick their nose in order to pick up scents.

I think my loss of smell had to do with an zithromax aka azithromycin/antibiotic, and then I did not know to protect myself and may have injured myself further by not protecting my nose; I was trying so hard to smell stuff such as tea tree oil or lavender oil; those may have been too strong. Would garlic be too strong? I tried that too. Maybe it was always going to be gone, but now I may never know.

Nobody tells you the mechanism by which an antibiotic causes loss of smell; I doubt they know or care unless they can make a lot of money off of knowing; if they would lose money by knowing, they're certainly not going to be honorable. Evolution means survival of the fittest! I might just kill myself to save the predators the trouble, LOL.

Anyway, you know there are little glands in the olfactory organs that produce moisture or mucus to facilitate smelling. I don't know why doctors do not know about this. For myself, I think that is the source of my trouble. Drying out one's sinuses in this situation is only going to make matters worse.

Raw Food Diet
Posted by Alan (Mexico City) on 12/10/2014
★★★★★

Loss of Smell

You should all try one month of raw food, that is everything must be raw giving more importance to raw vegetables this will liverate all the incrusted toxins and strange substances that could be from the air or chemicals that we usually eat with all the junk food and all the saturated greases and artificial colors etc.etc. Once I did it and wow! Your body really thanks you for these, the only thing is that you will really start smelling the terrible cadaveric smell of meat even in the best of beef restaurants and you will know what you have being eating erroneously all of your life.

I am not a vegetarian but please concider this because I have 35 or more years with holistic naturistic and orthomolecular medicine as my hobby.

Eat big raw smoothies in the morning plus a big veggie or frut salad in the afternoon and night ..give preference to adding cilantro to your smoothies because it desintoxicates the liver, do not forget garlic onion and radishes in your raw salads, repeat a big veggie smoothie any time you want avoid all comercial industrialized or cooked food for at least one or two months drink plain water, add sea salt to your salads lemons or lime, do not eat any absolutly any kind of oil, no even olive oil. You will desincrustate all the impurities of your smell cells and feel younger and with lots of smell.

Wish you all the best please do it do it with will and you won't regret it, see you tube for raw recepies they have many do not drink smoke or anything, give your body a break and be creative with your food there are many vegetables with wonderful flavors for you...

Best of luck to all of you.


Magnesium
Posted by Toourlady89 (Hayward Ca) on 03/15/2014
★★★★★

Loss of smell unless caused by any physical issues is related to Magnesium deficiency. RDA for Mg is 350 to 400 mg elemental Mg a day.. Takes months to rebuild Mg stores in the body, so you will need to be patient.. Google Magnesium and loss of smell. Avoid Mg Oxide. Best to use will be Mg glycinate 3 caps a day..


B-12
Posted by Connie (Slc, Utah, USA) on 01/29/2013
★★★★★

Hi Alinthing; I've read that in infants born with B12 deficiency, some of the neuroradiological findings are; cortical atrophy, slowed myelination, and thinning of the corpus callosum.

With B12 deficiency, there can be disturbances of all of the senses, including smell.

Even though neuro-damage may be permanent, there's still a chance for improvement.


Anosmia Triggered by Injury
Posted by Charity (faithville, Us) on 10/26/2020

interesting how cannabis is related to a zinc copper balance when I googled it. Too much zinc lowers copper and visa versa and low zinc causes loss of taste and smell. zinc used up as your body fight colds and flu and copper is used to fight grey hair and parasites. Hope this helps.


Anosmia Triggered by Antibiotics
Posted by Rosalia (South Africa ) on 10/13/2016

I have loss a sense of smell two months ago due to antibiotics, but I have found that castor oil is the best home remedy and I am using it now for the past 8 days, no sign of smell but I will continue to use it with the nasal spray got from my GP when I went back to tell him that the antibiotics have impaired me. I will pray and use castor oil until I reap the outcome.

Alpha Lipoic Acid
Posted by Rsw (Oh) on 04/21/2017

Con,

I always try to buy the r-alpha lipoic acid form which is supposed to be better in the body. If you look online for r-alpha lipoic acid, you will have a choice between several brands. If I am allowed to mention this, I find Life Extension to be a good source. Best wishes.


Borax
Posted by Ruralady (Illinois) on 08/20/2024 39 posts

Zinc also helps. I took it when I got the stomach flu and lost my sense of smell. I didn't realize right away that I lost it and threw away a ton of food b/c I thought it had gone bad. I only realized it was gone when I tasted a peanut butter sandwich and it tasted horrible. I started taking zinc right away and within 24hrs, it was back.


Anosmia Triggered by Injury
Posted by Janis (Flat Rock, Nc) on 07/11/2012

I have been without smell for two years. I have tried the castor oil, zinc, acupunture, alpha lipoic acid, and steroids. Don't want to try and hit my head again. Anybody know of another treatment option. Hypnosis? Neural implant??? Don't miss the bad smells on the bright side.


Colonics
Posted by Tommo (Scotland) on 02/23/2021
★★★★★

Colonics worked for me, not only restoring my sense of smell but colonics also gave my complexion a noticeable healthy glow!


Capsaicin Nose Spray
Posted by Jack (Phoenix, Az) on 09/16/2017
★★★★★

Restore smell loss due to too much magnesium with common nose sprays with natural ingredients:

Restoring sense of smell after losing it from too much magnesium is easy, but it burns a bit. Lots of cold cures include magnesium. I've lost my sense of smell twice using magnesium in nasal gels and cold lozenges. Just go to any drug store and get one of the capsaicin nose sprays, like Sinus Buster, at Walgreens or Walmart or CVS or wherever. They are used for sinus issues and migraines and cluster headache attacks. Just use as directed. Smell came back pretty quickly; I think it was the same day I started the capsaicin spray. The ones I still have in the fridge are Allergy Buster, Sinus Buster, and Headache Buster. I use them for cluster headache attacks. But I no longer use magnesium for colds, as it aggravates my cluster headache attacks.


Castor Oil
Posted by D Groce (North Carolina) on 09/22/2021

How did you use or apply the castor oil? We have all lost our taste and smell. Thanks so much.


Anosmia Triggered by Antibiotics
Posted by Lala (South Africa ) on 10/23/2016

I have using it for almost a month now, after I have lost a sense of smell because of antibiotics given by my GP, I haven't lost hope, it will help me when the time is right, every thing smells sweet indoors and out doors everything smell metal, and I went back to my GP and he gave me nasal drops for one month, and planning on sending me to ENT, how long must you use castor oil to get results???


Anosmia Triggered by Injury
Posted by Timh (Ky) on 09/05/2016 2043 posts

In any case of injury or any case of loss of smell, the number one go-to nutrient is Zinc. 50mg daily for a few days or wks and if taken any longer add 1.5-3mg Copper.

Many other really good suggestions here, but it is worth considering also supplementing Glutamine and Omega 3 Fatty Acids like Fish, Krill, or Flax Oil. More good natural remedies for the brain is Hemp/CBD, Taurine, Acetyl L-Carnitine.

I always use Magnet Therapy immediately following an injury and daily until healed.


Borax
Posted by Suzy (Fort Wayne, IN) on 09/02/2014

Acorus, please let me know how the borax in the netti pot works. It makes sense to me. I'm just wondering about the amount, if it is too much? I'd really like to know how it is working for you. Thanks.


Castor Oil
Posted by Susanne (Streamwood, US) on 07/12/2014

I got castor oil from Walmart - think I paid around $2.50, nothing fancy.


B-12
Posted by Joy (Battleground, Wash) on 03/16/2013

So you still have your sense of taste? Most people I read about have the loss of both at the same time. A zinc imbalance can cause a loss of them. Usually a zinc imbalance shows up as white spots on the fingernails. I just looked and doc oz commented on this and said try zinc 30 ? I forgot.... Whoops , ... My bad

I use a full spectrum mineral and it is solving some problems I've had for a while. You didn't mention if this was sinus surgery or how it would impact your smeller.


Heavy Metal Detoxing
Posted by Timh (Louisville, Ky, Usa) on 07/12/2012 2043 posts
★★★★★

Loss of smell is a very common side effect of Heavy Metal or possibly some kind of Zenobiotic toxicity. You can purchase Hair Analysis kits from online vendors or labs to check for HM. Detox Foot Pads are quite effective at eliminating all manner of toxins. Lots of recent comments on Far Infrared Sauna therapy here on Earth Clinic. Ionic Trace Minerals would certainly help.


Ted's Remedies
Posted by Ted (Bangkok,Thailand) 392 posts
★★★★★

Posted by Melanie (Surrey, B. C. Canada) on 01/17/2006: "Ted, I have not been able to smell anything for many years and wondering if you have some magical natural cure for this?"

Your conditions of not being able to smell anything is called Anosmia. Anosmia is a condition where you cannot detect smells. I believe this is caused by a zinc deficiency. For the body to best respond to zinc, I suggest you take zinc acetate (without the calcium carbonate and tricalcium phosphate fillers), vitamin b6 and magnesium. These three seems to work in synergy.


Zinc
Posted by Ginger G (Ohio) on 10/08/2018
★★★★☆

I have had bouts with loss of smell and taste for a few years now...Prednisone used to bring it back but that no longer works. Last night I chewed a garlic clove and I almost tasted it a little. took a zinc pill and today I tasted a little, haven't tasted for about a month now. I swabbed out my nose with caster oil without hexane and tonight I will try the drops. I'll let you know as we go along...


Anosmia Triggered by Injury
Posted by Sean (Idaho) on 08/31/2016

I had a bad head injury in May and didn't realize until weeks later my smell is distorted. I have one constant smell, an indescribable sweet smell. If there is something in the air, food, rotten fish bait, shampoo, whatever. The smell is stronger but always the same. It has been 5 months already.

Zinc
Posted by Lydia (Bergenfield, Nj) on 03/28/2016

Hello, I am not sure what made me start looking again for any updates on ideas to get my senses of taste and smell back. Four years ago, a restaurant customer suggested I take zicam zinc swabs for my cold. I figured, sure, it's natural, right? It was a month after using these swabs that I found I couldn't taste or smell anything.

I am a chef. My life was over.

I hired cooks and continued in my restaurant as if nothing happened, but in fact, my world as I knew it ended.

With no insurance, I started looking and found the Taste and Smell Clinic in Washington DC. I visited and was put on theophylline...and encouraged to go back every few months. With no job, and no insurance, this was impossible. And it has continued in this fashion for all of these years.

Upon discovery that I have Hashimoto's Disease for the past 10 years or so -- it took many endocrinologists to figure this out -- I wondered now that I am on meds that are supposed to help me with my horrible thyroid situation that maybe it has helped me to get some of my smell/taste back. Not much, but I have noticed a bit of a difference.

Have you heard of Hashimoto patients and anosmia? I am going to try the castor oil -- and let you know how it goes.

Thank you,

Lydia

Anosmia Triggered by Antibiotics
Posted by Marcio (Sarasota, Florida) on 10/02/2015

I have anosmia for 6 mos due to antibiotic, I only have one ( Grey smell ) if you know what I mean. I sympathize with everyone with anosmia and appreciate any input in solving the problem. I thank you in advance. Marcio.

Anosmia Triggered by Antibiotics
Posted by Hezekiah (London, Uk) on 09/08/2016

I just recently noticed I can't smell any more. I had an infection and doctor gave ampicillin capsules to use for a week. Immediately after the course of that medication I can't smell at all.


Anosmia Triggered by Antibiotics
Posted by Charity (Faithville , Usa) on 09/12/2016

I read antibiotics deplete zinc.


Anosmia Triggered by Virus
Posted by Paracelsus (Orlando, FL) on 12/11/2020 46 posts

I read somewhere that loss of smell and taste are due to a lack of zinc. Try taking a zinc supplement.



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